The High Priority, Short-Term Project Award, R56 grant will fund, for one or two years, high-priority new or competing renewal R01 applications with priority scores or percentiles that fall just outside the funding limits of participating NIH Institutes and Centers (IC). Investigators may not apply for R56 grants.  (See June 15, 2004 NIH Guide announcement.)

R56 grants will be awarded beginning in Fiscal Year 2005.

Initial review groups, NIH staff, and the institute and Center Advisory Councils and Boards will review submitted applications in the usual manner. Program administrators may identify creative and innovative approaches within the pool of applications that fall just beyond the established payline. Such applications will be considered for conversion to an R56 award by the IC.

The R56 Award will provide limited, interim research support based on the merit of the pending application. This support is designed to enable the Principal Investigator to gather additional data for revision of the current application. R56 funding will end after one or two years or when the applicant succeeds in obtaining a traditional research project grant.

These one- to two-year awards will underwrite highly meritorious applications and will be funded at levels set by the IC, which can range up to levels recommended by the initial review group and approved by Council.

The R56 award will help early career stage scientists trying to establish research careers as well as experienced scientists who can benefit from interim funding while they revise their applications.

1. The R56 grant will be available to domestic R01 applicants only.



2. Investigators may not apply for an R56 grant. Competing applications prepared and submitted in accordance with NIH procedures, will be peer reviewed, assigned a priority score and in most cases will receive a percentile rating. The IC will nominate applications for conversion to an R56 from the pool of R01 applications pending award for the current fiscal year. Nominees for the award must be in the most meritorious half of the priority or percentile range. Previously approved, but inactivated, applications from this time period may be considered and, if awarded, will be converted to an R56.



3. Note: Investigators do not apply for an R56 grant. Applications for conversion to an R56 will be selected by IC staff from reviewed R01 grants near the payline margins.



4. Award amounts can range up to IRG recommend level and will be funded with indirect costs at the negotiated rate.



5. R56 awardees are encouraged to submit a revision of their original competing application at the earliest convenient date to be considered for future funding. Applicants are reminded that the limitations on time and the number of amendments described at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-03-041.html apply to all subsequent revisions.



6. If a revised competing application is funded while an R56 award is active, the balance of the R56 Award will be deducted from the total approved amount of the competing award.



7. A final progress report, final financial status report, and final invention statement (HHS 568) will be required 90 days after the end of the R56 grant period. The progress report must identify those portions of the original proposal pursued with the R56 Award. If the awardee is successful with a subsequent application, the progress report in the revised application will suffice as a progress report for the R56 Award and a final invention statement will not be required.